The Legal Consequences of Driving a Car Without Insurance

So, here’s an unsettling thought. Did you know that there are approximately 1.2 million motorists on the road that are currently uninsured? What’s even more disturbing is that about 10 percent of the individuals who have been in a car accident before found themselves involved in one with someone who didn’t have an active car insurance policy.

Although there are some people who feel like paying for car insurance is a waste of money, the reality is there are some serious legal consequences that can come from driving without it. We have included five of them for you below:

You can get a ticket. There aren’t too many police officers who will pull you over, ask for your insurance card and simply let you go if you don’t have one. That’s because it’s not only breaking the law to drive uninsured, but if you were stopped, you were probably breaking the law in the first place; therefore, the officer wants to make sure that you are a responsible driver in other ways. So, if you don’t have insurance, based on where you live, that could earn you a fine of anywhere between $200-1000. That might be stiff, but remember, you are technically driving illegally.

You could have your license suspended. How many of us can get to where we need to go, easily, without our cars? Well, if you don’t have car insurance, there are some states that won’t just fine you, but also suspend your license for 30-90 days. Then you’ll have to pay a reinstatement fee to make your license active again. Another thing to keep in mind about this particular consequence is that if you’re caught driving without a license during that time, you could have it revoked or even be taken to jail.

Your insurance rate will increase. Ironically, there are individuals who don’t want to pay $50-150 per month on car insurance, but if they go without it and get enough fines, they’ll have to pay even more than that when they finally do decide to get a car insurance policy. The moral to this story is that you will actually pay a lot less to get insurance before you get ticketed for not having any in the first place.

You could have “bad driving credit”. If you are currently an uninsured motorist, something else that you might want to take into account is that your driving record is a lot like your credit history. That’s right. If you’re in the midst of applying for a job and they decide to check your DMV record and it’s less than stellar, that could prevent you from getting a job. An insured driver shows signs of being a responsible person and that’s something all employees look to hire.

You might have to pay for a new car out of pocket. In the unfortunate instance that you do get into a car accident and it’s determined that it’s your fault, the other party can take you to court and sue. Although it would be better (and easier) for them to have had coverage in case they were hit by an uninsured driver, you don’t want to depend on that being a possibility. No one likes going to court. Having car insurance can help you to avoid that, for sure.